1 © MCI Management Center Innsbruck, 2015 MCI MANAGEMENT CENTER INNSBRUCK 6020 Innsbruck / Austria INTERNATIONALE BILDUNG & WISSENSCHAFT GMBHUniversitätsstraße

1© MCI Management Center Innsbruck, 2015MCI MANAGEMENT CENTER INNSBRUCK 6020 Innsbruck / Austria www.mci.edu INTERNATIONALE BILDUNG & WISSENSCHAFT GMBH Universitätsstraße 15 [email protected]

EXAMINING STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF E-LEARNING IN A WOMEN-ONLY ENVIRONMENT

Karin Sixl-DaniellManagement Center Innsbruck, Austria

Amy WongGlobalNxt University,

Malaysia

2© MCI Management Center Innsbruck, 2015

• Context

• The Program

• Methodology

• Outcomes

• Implications and further research

OVERVIEW


• Despite the increase of women in the workforce, they continue to be underrepresented in managerial positions.

• Appropriate initiatives need to be implemented in an organization to manage and retain women talent.

• Online courses catered specifically to women can provide women professionals with relevant development opportunities throughout their career

• Apart from being flexible and cost effective, online women-only courses may provide an optimal learning environment for women to share and analyze the unique strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities women are facing in the workplace.


• Several questions exist concerning the design and delivery of such online courses, particularly from the student’s perspective.

• In this study, students' perceptions of e-learning in a women-only environment are examined;

• An exploratory study of female students enrolled in an Executive Certificate of Leadership for Women, which is a customized online program facilitated by international PhD qualified women faculty, is conducted to understand students’ perceptions of the various attributes of a women-only online learning course.


• Over the past decades, the number of women assuming corporate leadership roles has risen in most parts of the world

• In 2013, women held 24% of senior management roles worldwide with numbers ranging from 21% in North America to 32% in ASEAN countries.

• In China and Poland, senior management positions were held by 51% and 48% of women respectively [1].

• Despite these figures, women still face a gender gap in senior leadership positions, even though women outnumber men in college graduation rates and form the majority of entry-level employees [2].


• However, while the number of women in managerial positions has grown, women continue to be underrepresented in managerial positions, with this gender gap being most evident at the senior management and executive levels.

• Research cites reasons such as the absence of training and professional development opportunities for women globally [6].


• Given the above findings, it is imperative that organizations increase the percentage of women within the company, in particular in mid to top-level positions, as this would in turn increase the likelihood of sustaining gender diversity at every level of the organization [11].

• Such an approach can give rise to more female role models within the organization, which may result in (more) female mentors which may enable female employees at the beginning of their careers to clearly see a path for career progression which involves the handling of multiple life commitments.


• Not only does the percentage of women in mid to top-level positions need to be increased, these women also need to be retained in the organization in order to reap the full benefits of their involvement and commitment.

• As such, corporate educational activities and appropriate initiatives that are beneficial to an organization can accomplish this.


WOMEN LEADERS

• Special attention should be given to the retention of women talent within an organization as the multiple life commitments (i.e., child bearing years, family responsibilities such as caring for young children and elderly parents) women face often require a different approach for women than for men when it comes to talent retention.

• Women-only development programs can be used as a talent retention tool, as many women can freely discuss particular issues and concerns in a supportive and safe climate such as a like-minded group.


STUDYING…• Women tend to feel more at ease in single sex institutions when it comes

to subjects such as science and mathematics. Studies reported that gender stereotyping stands out more in post high school in a co-educational environment rather than in a single sex environment [16, 17].

• In single-sex settings with a stronger element of collaboration, girls tend to have an easier time at learning, with the learning experience becoming more meaningful.

• This reinforces the importance of collaborative learning in single sex environment [18] and emphasizes the value of women-only developmental programs.

• Appropriate women-only education and training is of critical importance to women's career development and progression [19].

• Hence, women-only programs could be an effective way of enhancing a participant’s skill set.


CORPORATE EDUCATION INITIATIVES IN LEADERSHIP FOR WOMEN

• Apart from being flexible, time as well as cost effective, available 24/7, location independent and fast to update, online women-only courses provide an optimal learning environment for women to share and analyze the unique strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities facing women in the workplace without the women having to travel for these courses.

• Several questions exist concerning the design and delivery of such online courses, particularly from the student’s perspective.


THE STUDY

• This study examines students' perceptions of e-learning in a women-only environment.

• An online survey was conducted to understand students’ perceptions of the various attributes of a women-only online learning course.

• These students were enrolled in an Executive Certificate of Leadership for Women at GlobalNxt University, which is a customized online program compiled and facilitated by international PhD qualified women faculty at GlobalNxt University (formerly U21Global or Universitas21Global)

• The university’s globally diverse student population is represented by over 72 different countries.

• In addition, through close industry partnerships, the university has talent development programs with over 100 multinational companies.


• The Executive Certificate of Leadership for Women is a 22-weeks online program (one week of student orientation, 18 weeks covering six modules, two weeks for a final reflective team project, one week for grading and moderation).

• The program comprises six out of the following modules: People Leadership, Ethical Decision Making, Business Communication, Entrepreneurial Thinking, Managing Change, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Strategic Management for Innovative Businesses plus a final reflective project.


• The program was designed by women for women and acknowledges the specific issues that women face such as juggling family and work responsibilities and managing dual-career relationships associated with pursuing careers at the expense of family.


LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Course overview, content,

announcements, instructions,

discussions, etc.


THE APPROACH

Synchronous learning online

Webinars

Chats

Input / Lectures

Brainstorming

Asynchronous collaborative learning online

Discussion boards

Social Networking

Group work

Wikis and Blogs

Asynchronous self-paced learning online

Websites /

Readings

Webcast /

Screencast Videos

& Podcasts Online

Tests & Quizzes


• It is aimed at delivering highly interactive and deep learning that is inclusive, meaningful, and authentic for its participants.

• The program provides a sound understanding of business leadership fundamentals.

• The program is flexible and cost effective, as it brings international women faculty and students into the specially designed online community, greatly reducing the need for women executives to have to leave their work venues and families to travel to participate in this program.


METHOD

• Data for this exploratory study was collected from female students who were enrolled in 2014

• Online post-course survey • Response rate: 59% • Ssample consisted of 17 female middle managers with an average

working experience of 7.5 years• All the variables used in this study were assessed using five-point Likert

scales, with 1 representing “strongly disagree” and 5 representing “strongly agree”

• Open ended questions were also elicited, such as what they liked most/least about the program and any improvements/suggestions that can be made


OUTCOMES

• The majority of students agreed or strongly agreed that the women-only environment was conducive to learning (82%).

• The same applies for the women only environment being intellectually challenging (76%).

• Participants felt that the female professors in the program understood their needs better than male professors would.


OUTCOMES

• Around half of the students mentioned that they felt more at ease in a female-only class.

• The vast majority of the participants felt that the peer interaction in the program contributed to their learning.

• In addition to the program content, the participants experienced improved self-confidence due to the fact that they had been invited to join the program.


OUTCOMES

• All participants expressed their satisfaction with the program.• It appears that the opportunity for interacting with other women (i.e.,

peers, faculty, and industry guest speakers) from a broad range of backgrounds has enhanced both learning and personal development.

• Analysis of the open ended feedback showed a high degree of satisfaction among the students.


“I like all modules as they are valuable and I gain lot of inputs from this course

work”.

“The course content and discussions were good. (The)

women-only environment made us understand the

problems faced by women and triggered open discussions”

“The e-content was very informative and I learnt

many new concepts. The case studies perfectly complemented the e-

content”

“This course was great learning for me. I enjoyed every aspect of the course and I was always excited to

learn and share more. The professors were actually invoking and inducing

that extra motivation and excitement in me”.


“Being a part of this program had an immediate impact on my work as it gave me access to so many new resources. I

wasn’t sure what to expect, but the program quickly provided me with new

ways of thinking, a new set of management tools and terrific people

connections. …”

“I liked the course very much. It is relevant and strongly

recommended.”

“I enjoyed the program a lot from the beginning to the end; course contents were rich, teachers were

always helpful and doubts were always answered”

“… The course content, faculty and learning environment were creative,

innovative and collaborative. I left [the program] energized, connected and engaged. Definitely worth the

investment!”.


• As seen from the findings, students’ perceptions of the Executive Certificate of Leadership for Women are positive and the program has met the training and development needs of the participants.


LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH

• The data for this exploratory study is limited to a batch of 17 students from four countries (Singapore, India, USA, and Canada).

• Future research should extend the scope of data collection to include larger samples of students from a variety of organizations,

• It should also focus on a variety of geographies and industries to further investigate these findings.


• Specifically, several research questions emerge:

• Does the country of origin of the participants play a role in determining the perceived effectiveness of online executive education?

• Does the organization type, size, industry or culture play a role in determining the perceived effectiveness of online executive education?

• How can organizations design and deliver effective online executive education programs for female managers?

• Do such programs have a long term effect on career development? • What effect does such a program have on the promotion, and

subsequently career advancement of the participants? • Does the salary difference between the genders narrow as a result of

such programs? • …


REFERENCES

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2. Yee L.: Fostering Women Leaders: A fitness test for your top team. The McKinsey Quarterly, January 2015

3. Desvaux, G., Devillard-Hoellinger, S. and Meaney, M.C.: A business case for women. The McKinsey Quarterly, September 2008.

4. DDI: Ready-Now Leaders: Meeting Tomorrow’s Business Challenges. Global Leadership Forecast. 2015. http://www.ddiworld.com/DDI/media/trend-research/global-leadership-forecast-2014-2015_tr_ddi.pdf?ext=.pdf

5. Kennedy J. and Kray L. “Who is Willing to Sacrifice Sacred Values for Money and Social Status? Gender Differences in Reactions to Taboo Trade-offs.” IRLE Working Paper No. 124-12. 2012. http://irle.berkeley.edu/workingpapers/124-12.pdf

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6. Davis, P. J.: The global training deficit: The scarcity of formal and informal professional development opportunities for women entrepreneurs. Industrial and Commercial Training, 44(1), 2012, pp. 19-25.

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1 © MCI Management Center Innsbruck, 2015 MCI MANAGEMENT CENTER INNSBRUCK 6020 Innsbruck / Austria INTERNATIONALE BILDUNG & WISSENSCHAFT GMBHUniversitätsstraße